Mall Trip

Over the next several hours, we wandered through the mall, picking up framed pictures to hang in the hallways and rooms where guests would go. Ocean scenes for the bathroom, rolling forest landscape scenes for the living room and dining room, and relaxing sunsets and other sky featured paintings for the guest room. We found several little sculptures of all types of animals as well as little chubby cherubs to fill in the spaces on the shelves, fireplace mantel, tables, and counters. We were forced to make several trips to the car to deposit our finds into it so we could continue to buy things. As we walked back into the mall for the fourth time, Scarlett draped her arm around my shoulders to steer me toward the food court.
“How about a snack? And then we will hit the bookstore. That’s the last store we will be able to hit before the mall closes, and I know you have been eyeing it all day,” she teased.
“It’s a bookstore! Who wouldn't want to escape into the perfect world where no matter what happens, you know there is a happily ever after ending with lots of hot, steamy sex along the way?” I giggled.
She smiled at me. “Lots of hot, steamy sex, hmmm? Is it as good in real life as it is in your books?”
I lowered my eyes as a blush stained my cheeks. “I don’t know…”
She stepped up to the counter to order before saying anything else. “Hi. We would like two orders of your pretzel bites. She likes your cheese sauce, and I want your honey mustard. Then we would also like two of your large Icees. One Coke, and the other a cherry and blue raspberry mix.”
The young man behind the counter smiled at Scarlett as he set about getting our order for us. After paying and picking up all of our stuff, Scarlett led me to a table a few yards away from the pretzel place. I dipped my first pretzel bite into my cheese sauce before popping it into my mouth to enjoy the way the flavor exploded on my tongue. Scarlett watched me eat for a moment before taking a sip of her Icee.
“Is your desire not to be Logan’s Alpha Sow based on you and Gerry making up, Annie?” She asked suddenly.
“No! Why would you think that?”
“It’s just that while you were home, you seemed to be so excited at the prospect of being their Alpha Sow. Less than a week after you leave home, you no longer want to be Havana's Alpha Sow,” she said.
I shook my head. “No, Scarlett. I am capable of making my own decisions. Is this why you wanted to go shopping with me? To talk to me about Gerry?”
“It’s part of why I wanted to come shopping with you,” she admitted.
“Gerry and I are fine. He has been helping me a lot and has been making sure that I stay safe. Isn’t that what he’s supposed to do?” I asked.
“Yes, that is what he’s supposed to do. It’s the things he knows he’s not supposed to be doing but continues to do them that worries me.”
I eyed her for a moment before eating another pretzel bite. “I’m not sure what you mean?”
“I know you and Gerry are sleeping together, Annie,” she said bluntly.
“No. We aren’t,” I instantly denied.
“You don’t have to lie to me, Annie. I know that you are. I could smell it as soon as I walked into your house. I smelled it even more when I got close to you. I’m a bear, Annie. You can’t hide it from me.”
I looked down. “Does that mean that Osprey knows too?”
“Yes.”
“And you left him at the house with Gerry?!” I cried, jumping up. “He’s going to kill him!”
Scarlett’s aura came out to soothe me again. “Annie, sit down. Osprey is not going to say or do anything to Gerry. I made him promise me. I told him that we can’t get involved. I don’t approve of your relationship, but I know that right now, this is what you want. I really hope that you change your mind before it’s too late. You deserve to have everything, Annie. You deserve to be marked, a true mark, not this temporary claim bullshit that you and Gerry are doing. You deserve to be able to find your fated mate or accept a chosen mate. You deserve to have cubs. Ones that will be healthy. I want all of your dreams to come true. That can’t happen with Gerry, honey. I just want you to be in love and happy forever,” she told me as she reached across the table to take my hand.
I gently removed my hand from her grip to put it in my lap. “You don’t know that I can’t have that with Gerry, Scarlett. Just because you found Osprey and he is your fated doesn’t mean that being with my fated mate is what’s best for me. And before you talk about chosen mates again,” I said, pulling my hair to the side to reveal Gerry’s temporary mark on my skin, “I already have one. He is who I want, Scarlett, and I am lucky enough to have him. Isn’t that what you should want for me?”
She sighed as she shook her head. “It is what I want. I just don’t want it to be him that you want.”
“But it is, and I don’t see myself ever not wanting him,” I told her.
“Alright, Annie. I won’t mention it again, but if you ever want to talk about your relationship with him, I am here for you,” she promised.
“Alright, thanks, I guess. Can we go look at books now?” I asked.
“Yeah, but let’s finish our snacks,” she answered.
While we continued to eat our pretzels and drink our Icees, we spoke about her and Osprey’s cubs along with the rest of our family. By the time we stood up to leave, I had been fully caught up on all of our family’s new business. I was glad that she stayed true to her word and didn’t bring up Gerry, Logan, or the Havana Sleuth again. I hated feeling so on guard with her. I had never had to be, and it was weird. She was my Alpha Sow, and for my entire life, she had been comforting and loving. It was so different from how she was in a few of our recent conversations.
When we walked into the bookstore, we separated. She went towards the psychology and education sections, while I went straight for the romance section, where I knew that I would find the books that would take me to worlds where everything was perfect. I could pretend for a little while that my life was perfect too. I slowly scanned the multiple shelves that all boasted of the typical romance storylines.
Boy and girl fall in love and are happy until the male messes up. She leaves him, and years later, they find each other again and realize they were still in love. They spend the rest of the book trying to make it work and then bam! The epilogue where they either get married or have a child. I rolled my eyes as I set yet another book back into its place. I was tired of the same old plot. I wanted something new. I was ready for spice, and I didn’t just mean sex.
I went around the corner to go down the next aisle, searching for a book that would fit the outline of what I was looking for. My eyes finally fell on a book titled ‘Daddy’s Grownup Babygirl’ and my heart started to race as I reached for it. I picked it up and quickly read the back of it, smiling like a fool as my stomach fluttered a little. I turned it back over to look at the age gap couple depicted on the cover.
“You’re perfect,” I murmured softly as I traced the title.
“If you like that one, there’s a whole series by that author,” said an unfamiliar voice from behind me that had my toes curling in my shoes as its huskiness wrapped around me.
I swallowed hard before turning around. I let my eyes slowly move up his body, taking in his muscular frame, ignoring the book that he was holding out to me, before finally meeting his eyes. Once I did, my breath was forced out with one powerful, startled exhale. I swallowed hard as his dark, melted chocolate-colored eyes bore into mine.
“Here. This is book two. You should take it as well,” he told me as he took a step toward me.
“Wh-why?” I stuttered.
“Because I read the one in your hands in a single night and devoured the second one just as fast. They run on the same timeline,” he told me as he moved even closer to me.
I didn’t even notice that I was moving backward until my back hit the shelves behind me. I raised my hand, placing it on his chest to keep him from pressing against me.
“L-Logan?” I whispered hesitantly.
He lowered his head to peer into my eyes. “Hey, Annie,” he murmured softly.
I stared at him mesmerized until my link with Gerry opened. ‘Annie, are you alright?’
Gerry asked, snapping me out of my trance.
I shoved Logan back and took off running, dropping my book on the ground. I ran past Scarlett, who was smiling at me before it turned into a frown.
“Annie?” She called after me. “What’s wrong?”
I didn’t answer her. I couldn’t. How could I tell her that meeting my fated mate had sent me spiraling? It had turned my entire world upside down, and I didn’t know how to handle it. I raced down the street, desperately wanting to get home.
‘Annie, what’s wrong?’ Gerry asked, panicking through our link.
I let out a loud sob as I pumped my legs faster as I answered, ‘Everything.’